Extended Ending for Forces of Nature
by Scioneeris
Summary: The episode with Thunder and Lightening, Robin's first "Slade" encounter and BB's backfired prank. RobinxRaven pairing. Oneshot.


**I do not own any Teen Titans anything. This is just for the sheer fun of it. **

**This is an extended ending for episode four, "Forces of Nature" from Season one of the Teen Titans animated series. This is a supposed afternoon after the Titans fought with Thunder and Lightening and the same episode where BB's prank for Cyborg accidentally backfired on Starfire. **

**RobinxRaven Pairing, his way of handling the stress of seeing "Slade". **

* * *

_A milnip wusserloop._

Raven chuckled. She couldn't help it. The rooftop meditations had helped and sometimes Starfire could be more amusing than she knew. It was funny enough to watch his antics, but at least he wasn't as immature as he'd been at their first meeting.

_He should be more like Robin…_

The thought startled her and Raven quickly shook her head to rid herself of the comparison. If Beast Boy would start acting like Robin, she didn't think she'd be able to handle it. No, it was best if the little kid stayed exactly like that, a little kid.

The day was finally over and she was glad to be back at the tower. It had been a rather troublesome experience dealing with the duo of Thunder and Lightening. She scowled. She'd had to use a considerable chunk of energy to protect the people as well as to destroy the forest. The emotional backlash was twofold. There was joy from protecting the innocent humans, this tucked away for later conversion into useful energy, as for the forest, that surfaced in the way of her recent irritation.

_Why do I have to be connected to everything?_

The thought was flung out in anger and Raven took a breath to calm herself. It was a rhetorical question, because she didn't expect an answer. She wanted to know the answer to the second question, why was she connected to everything, except Robin?

A shiver ran through her and Raven paused at the entrance to the great room. For a moment, she contemplated actually stepping in to mingle with her fellow teammates for a moment and then the thought of seeing Robin caused her backtrack a few steps.

He'd seen something on the mountain, but hadn't said a word.

Something about the tortured expression on his face made her keep her questions to herself, but she couldn't bear to be so close to him and yet so far. He was troubled. He was worried. He was stressing.

And it hurt.

He was the leader, so he shouldered the heaviest of the burden no matter what it was. This time, it wasn't enough. Cyborg had caught on from the moment he'd seen the boy wonder's preoccupied expression. The two of them had holed up in Robin's thinking room for awhile, hashing out a few possible theories before Beast Boy had interrupted with announcements for food and games.

Starfire was more than happy to join in at the mention of food and games, where 'bonding' was involved for all interested parties. It was that particular point that had Raven retreating to the calm quiet of outside.

Her room was too dark, too quiet.

She needed to hear something, just not Starfire and company.

And yet here she stood in front of the door, craving to be a part of them again and wanting desperately to be anywhere but standing where she was.

Thankfully, her inner conflict was slashed in half as the door slid open and Robin walked right into her.

Possible words and phrases welled up in her throat but the only response that emerged was a rather quiet hiccup.

"Raven!" Robin immediately bent to help her up, one hand holding hers and the other on her arm, helping her up to her feet. "Are you alright?"

The only answer she could offer was to hurriedly pull up her hood to hide the blush beginning at the corners of her ears.

"Raven?"

"I'm fine." She whispered, turning in a swirl of dark fabric, heading for the end of the hall and aiming for her room.

"Are you sure?" He kept pace with her easily, a touch of concern in his voice. "Were you going to join us?"

"I…" Raven rounded the corner a little sharper than she intended.

Robin's hand snaked out to steady her, a hand that stayed on her shoulder. "Raven?" He hesitated, the hand dropping back to his side.

"I'm fine. You can go back." She shied away from him.

"I was actually coming to look for you."

She stared at him. The words weren't quite registering in the way she wanted them to. "For me?"

"Yeah. Want to join us? It's a lot of-"

"I-I have to meditate." Raven stammered, and willed her feet to move.

She was down the hallway and halfway to her room before her mind caught up with her self-defense mechanism. She was running away again. _Way to go, Raven_. She mentally congratulated herself. _That was wonderful, I bet Robin thinks the world of you now_. She slowed from a run into a walk and then stopped altogether, hugging her arms to her chest.

_I'm making a mess out of this. A really big mess. _

Shoving the troublesome thoughts away, Raven moved forward again at a shuffle this time. She didn't really want to go and brood in her darkened cave of a room. She couldn't stand to meditate another minute. But there wasn't much else she could do.

There wasn't much else she _wanted_ to do.

Raven rounded the last corner, walking up to her door and stopped short a few feet away. Robin was lounging comfortably, braced against the wall beside her bedroom door. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head was tilted forward.

"Robin? How did you get here?"

"Took the shortcut."

Right. Raven swallowed. Great. Okay, all I have to do is just walk past him and he'll stop with the games and the…

He didn't look up as she approached and when she raised a hand to open the door, he spoke.

"You have to meditate?" It was more of a question than a statement, but there was a hint of laughter in the corner of his voice.

"Yes." The answer was pushed through her teeth. There was no way she could calmly keep up a conversation under these new circumstances.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Raven froze. "What?"

Robin moved forward, close enough to touch as he placed one hand on either side of her and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Is that the best excuse you can give me?"

_Excuse?_

She jerked around to face him and found herself speechless when his masked face was inches away from hers. For a moment, breathing was a bit of an afterthought. "R-robin?"

"A moment." He muttered, gathering her in his arms. "I just need a moment."

Too shocked to do much else, Raven stood there and let him hold her. Her mind effortlessly released itself into his care, to feel his warmth so close and his arms so strong. He was close enough, in this moment. He was near enough to need her.

They stood like that, until the shock wore off, at least for Raven.

She found her head leaning forward, as if to rest on his shoulder and nestle in his neck and then the shock registered. A strangled sound welled up in her throat and before she could let it out, Robin released her. His head was still bowed and his expression was still troubled.

"Robin?" She tried again.

"Thanks." He turned away, abruptly and continued down the hall.

She could only stare as he walked away, still trying to fit the pieces together.

He disappeared into the shadows at the end and she fumbled with the door for it to open. Stepping inside her room, she slumped back against the door.

Puzzle pieces.

That's what they were.

And it seemed like they wouldn't fit.


End file.
